France to take legal action over ‘nightmare’ plastic pellet spill

Brittany beaches polluted by waves of beads believed to have been lost by an unidentified container ship

The French government is taking legal action over an “environmental nightmare” caused by waves of tiny plastic beads washing up on the coast of Brittany.

The white pellets the size of grains of rice, “mermaids’ tears”, have appeared on beaches in France and Spain for the last year. They are believed to have come from shipping containers lost in the Atlantic Ocean.